


the very next day

by wrennette



Series: jangobi week 2021 [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Blanket Permission, DON'T COPY OR REPOST TO ANOTHER SITE, M/M, Shapeshifting, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29186112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrennette/pseuds/wrennette
Summary: The tooka came back, day after day.
Relationships: Jango Fett/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: jangobi week 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141214
Comments: 31
Kudos: 303
Collections: Jangobi Week





	the very next day

**Author's Note:**

> for @jangobiweek day three prompt: undercover

On the first day, Jango just wanders through the city in civilian gear. Wearing armour most of the time means that to go unremarked, he simply leaves his beskar'gam locked up on his ship. He finds his bounty easily with the information from the guild, and conveniently, a cafe with outdoor seating nearby. He orders a cup of caf and a pastry, and sits and eats idly while appearing to read the headlines on the newscrawl. 

Before he'd look suspicious, Jango pays and leaves, having noted the locations of all the security holocams. He walks a few different routes between the target's office and the spaceport, memorizing potential chokepoints and obstacles. When no one is watching, he ducks into a back alley and goes up a fire escape, then scopes out the routes from roof level. He leaves a holocam of his own set up near the target's office.

In the morning, when Jango downloads the footage to his HUD, he swears vociferously with a slight smile on his face. About two hours after being set up, his holocam was found by a curious tooka. There's one good shot of its face, then a series of sharp but blurry motions before the holocam was utterly destroyed. It's not the end of the world, holocams aren't too expensive, but unexpected setbacks always annoy him. 

With a sigh of impatience, Jango sets up a new holocam in a different location that still has good sightlines. After all, there's no point in just endlessly supplying some feral tooka with shiny toys to destroy. When the holocam is set to relay images to Jango's ship, he finds another place to loiter, staking out his target. He has caf and pastries from the same little shop as the day before, then walks through the nearby streets, orienting himself to every twist and turn. 

Jango marks times, building a schedule of movements. His target is fairly regular, into the office about nine local time, then out for a meal at a local cafe around midday, and out of the office early in the evening. As he walks his surveillance routes, Jango occasionally sees an orange flash - after about the third time, he realizes that it's a marmalade tooka, with neat white tuxedo markings. 

Smiling slightly, Jango ducks into a snack shop and buys a packet of unseasoned jerky. He drops a piece on the ground at his side, keeping his head turned studiously away. The lean, shaggy tooka edges closer. The tooka approaches one halting step at a time, big ears flickering this way and that like scanning sensors. 

The tooka bats the jerky into its mouth and all but inhales it, then darts away, studiously watching Jango from behind the cover of a few abandoned crates. Jango's smile widens, and slowly, his hand drifts back to the pouch of jerky. He eats a bit himself, frowning slightly - he prefers the spiced version, but he's pretty sure a tooka wouldn't like that. 

When Jango pulls the holocam footage that night, the tooka's struck again. But Jango's suspicions are also confirmed. It's the same tooka that he fed earlier in the day. He debates setting up a third holocam that he's pretty certain the tooka will just find and destroy, then decides not to. He'll feed it more tomorrow, see if he can't bribe it into not taking out his equipment.

After a few more days watching his target in person, both from the roofs and on ground level, Jango's solidified his plan. The marmalade tom has visited intermittently, but with greater frequency. While Jango doesn't mind the solitary waiting of an assassination like this, the tooka is surprisingly welcome company. It shows up each day, and with each visit it dares to get a little closer, stay a little longer. Jango's seriously thinking about seeing if he can befriend it enough to get it on his ship, take it home to Boba. He thinks the kid would like a pet.

Jango smiles slightly, silently slipping his fingers into his utility belt. Deftly he finds a chunk of unseasoned jerky. Jango remains still, studiously turned away. Most of his attention is on the door his target will come out of in a few hours, but the tooka's visits are definitely the high point of his day. On the fourth night, it eats its treat from Jango's hand, lets Jango scratch behind its big ears. Jango smiles to himself as he rubs his knuckles over its head. A couple nights later, the tooka curls up in Jango's lap and falls asleep. He smooths his hand down its spine, thinking about names. He should probably leave that to Boba.

"Tooka," Jango says very seriously, "despite being a regular pain in the shebs, you are absolutely the best part of this stupid fucking gig. This asshole has such a stupidly regular schedule, it should be childsplay to snipe him. But I have to wait for the stupid astrologically ordained date to pull the fucking trigger, otherwise I only get paid half."

The tooka mews, and Jango knows it doesn't understand him, but it's kind of nice to have someone to talk to.

"I just want to get home to my kid, you know?" Jango says, scratching at the tooka's ears. "I don't really need to do the job, I've got plenty of credits in the bank. But I can't just sit at home either. Hunting - it's in my blood. I'm good at it, and I like doing it too. These assholes - they're screwing people left and right. This one - it's his rival that wants him offed. The rival's not really any better of course, but this guy - he's scum." 

The tooka lets out a rumbling purr, and Jango smiles. Later, he blames this moment of inattention. The stun shot hits him so hard that when he wakes up in the cell a few hours later, his skin is still tingling. 

"Well fuck," Jango says eloquently. Since he'd been dressed in civilian gear at least they hadn't stripped him of his armour, but they have put him into an ugly grey jumpsuit, which means that his various back up weapons, lockpick set, and other tools are gone. Which will make breaking out significantly more difficult. He has enough confidence in his skills to not be hopeless about his prospects, but things aren't looking too good when the skinny orange tooka winds its way through the bars of the cell front and climbs into his lap. "You know, this is your fault," Jango complains, and the tooka gives him a very unimpressed look, then spits a keycard in his face. 

Jango blinks in surprise, then blinks again. The tooka manages to look even less impressed than it had a moment ago. "You know what, sure, why not," Jango says, and picks up the keycard. He tucks the tooka up against his chest with his other arm, and rises. Getting out of the cell is easy as anything with the keycard in his possession.

Walking steady but quiet, Jango makes his way out of the prison. The keycard works to let them out of the cellblock, and Jango's adrenaline kicks in as he pads on. Eventually, they'll be noticed, because breaking out of prison should not be this easy. As if hearing his thoughts, the tooka starts squirming in his arm. Jango hisses at it, trying to urge it to calm. Predictably, it doesn't listen. 

A guard rounds the corner, but before they can raise the alarm, the tooka is using Jango's chest as a springboard. It bounds forward, landing on the guard's face. But when it lands, it is not a tooka. Somehow, for an instant, it is the feline the size of a nexu, and then it is a very naked man with one hand over the guard's mouth to keep them from crying out, and one around the guard's neck, choking them to unconsciousness.

"Uhhhh," Jango says, and the man turns slightly, flashing him a roguish smile. 

"Do try to keep up, my dear," the man says, and then the nexu-sized feline is there in the man's place, and then it is racing forward, bowling over any other being that stands between Jango and freedom. Jango decides to question his sanity later, and races after his rescuer. 

Panting, they finally stop in a dimly lit alley. There is the large feline, and then there is the man. He steps forward, into Jango's space, pale eyes gleaming. Jango can't help but wondering if those eyes shine like a hunter's in the dark even in this form. He wants to find out, and blames the adrenaline when he pulls the naked man who can turn into a very large cat with very large teeth into his arms and kisses him thoroughly. 

"Thanks for the save," Jango says when they part, and the man smiles, showing teeth that are a touch too sharp for a mainline human. 

"No trouble at all my dear, after all, it was my fault you were so distracted," the man says, and Jango doesn't argue that. Instead he kisses the handsome stranger again, licks into his mouth. 

"I guess this means I'm probably not bringing my son a pet tooka," Jango says, and the man laughs. 

"I mean you still could, just - not the one you thought you might?" 

Jango hums, debating whether to press for more information or not. While he's thinking, the stranger produces a packet from a hiding place, and opens it to pull out two sets of clothing. He dresses in one, and hands Jango the other. Jango smiles, and quickly changes out of the prison jumpsuit. 

"I don't usually take on partners while I'm hunting, but I'd be willing to offer a share of the bounty for your services as watch-cat," Jango says after a moment, and the man cocks his head slightly. "Unless you're morally opposed to contract killing?"

"No, if I had a problem with your profession I would have left you in prison," the man says. "I'm investigating the syndicate as a whole, a change in leadership won't compromise my mission. Just thinking whether I can complete my job in a timely manner if I help you with yours." 

Jango nods, accepting that. The man leads them to a small cafe, and gets caf and pastry for Jango, and a cup of tea for himself. They sit, and drink, and the man steals a bit of pastry off Jango's plate with a little smirk that Jango wants very much to kiss off his mouth, despite that the adrenaline has faded. 

"I think that sounds like the start of a lovely partnership," the man says. "Call me Ben." It's clearly not his real name, but Jango doesn't mind. 

"Ben," Jango agrees, and captures his hand when he tries to steal a bit more pastry. He raises Ben's hand, and kisses his fingers. "To a lovely partnership."

**Author's Note:**

> i'm @wrennette on tumblr, pillowfort, and dreamwidth, feel free to come say hi!


End file.
